In Guatemala the poor are getting poorer, and rural Indigenous Maya feel that poverty the most. A failure to create and enforce policies to protect Indigenous peoples has contributed to a culture in which gender-based violence and discrimination are the norm.
When women build new skills and confidence, when they have the support and the opportunity to see a better future for themselves and their families, whole communities can thrive. We identify motivated women leaders, develop their potential, and help them deliver sustainable change by training them to implement four high-impact programs.
Women develop leadership skills and assume leadership roles in their homes and communities. As Community Coordinators, they implement our Early Childhood Development, Health, and Education programs, teaching other mothers and grandmothers and building key project management and leadership skills to set them up for success beyond Mil Milagros.
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Community Coordinators teach other mothers and grandmothers how to prevent malnutrition and give their children a healthy foundation. This includes workshops on proper nutrition and hygiene for pregnant women and babies, monthly height and weight clinics, and home visits to support new mothers and their children.
Community Coordinators train student council members and Mother Leader volunteers to lead public health campaigns in their schools and communities. They teach workshops on women’s health to local women, and ensure that partner schools have access to essential hygiene supplies so that all students stay healthy at school.
Community Coordinators work to promote literacy and deliver quality education through teacher training initiatives, classroom observations and personalized follow-up, and supplying books and necessary materials so that children can practice their reading skills. Children finish primary school literate and ready to continue their education.
